Amphiesma platyceps
The Himalayan keelback (Amphiesma platyceps) is a species of grass snake found in South Asia. It is known from India along the sub-Himalayan region, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan and China between 1000 to 3600 m elevation. Description Eye moderate; rostral just visible from above; suture between the internasals as long as that between the pre-frontals or shorter; frontal longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals; loreal longer than deep ; one pre-ocular (sometimes divided); two or three postoculars; temporals 1+1, or 1+2, or 2+2; upper labials 8, third, fourth, and fifth entering the eye; 4 or 5 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are much shorter than the posterior. Scales in 19 rows faintly or feebly keeled. 177-235 ventrals; anal divided; subcaudals 75-107. Olive-brown above, with small black spots; frequently two black parallel lines or an elliptic marking on the nape; a light, black-edged streak on each side of the head, or a black line from eye to gape; belly yellowish, with or without blackish dots; frequently a black line or series of elongate blackish spots along each side of the belly; lower surface of tail frequently mottled with blackish; throat sometimes black. In life, a coral-red band is said to run along the ends of the ventrals.Boulenger, G. A. 1890. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Amphibia. p. 348 Total length 90 cm (3 feet); tail 23 cm (9 inches).Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume I. London. References Further reading * Blyth, EDWARD. 1855 Notices and descriptions of various reptiles, new or little known 2. Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Calcutta, 23 (3): 287-302 1854 * Cardew, A.G. 1896 A rough key to the identification of Indian ophidia. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 10: 585-596 * Hubrecht, A.A.W. 1882 List of reptiles and amphibians brought from British India by Mr. Francis Day. Notes Leyden Mus., Leiden 4: 138-144 * Kramer, E. 1977 Zur Schlangenfauna Nepals. Rev. suisse Zool., 84 (3): 721-761. * Malnate, E. V. 1966 Amphiesma platyceps (Blyth) and Amphiesma sieboldii (Günther): sibling species (Reptilia: Serpentes). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 63 (1): 1-17 * Schleich, H.H. & Kästle, W. 2002 Amphibians and Reptiles of Nepal. Koeltz, Königstein, 1200 pp. * Shaw, G.E.; Shebbeare, E.O. & Barker, P.E. 1939 The snakes of northern Bengal and Sikkim, Part 4. The colubrine snakes. J. Darjeeling Nat. Hist. Soc. 13: 114-123 * Shaw, G.E.; Shebbeare, E.O. & Barker, P.E. 2000 The snakes of Sikkim and Bengal reprint. Asiatic Publ. House (Delhi), 125 pp. * Steindachner,F. 1867 Ueber drei neue Schlangenarten philippinica. Verh. zool.-botan. Ges. Wien 17: 513-516 * Tillack, F. 2003 Über die Verbreitung und Biologie der Himalaya-Gebirgswassernatter Amphiesma platyceps (Blyth 1854) und einen Fall von Amphigonia retardata (Serpentes: ColubridaNatricinae). Sauria 25 (1): 21-27 * Wall, F. 1913 A new snake of the genus Tropidonotus from the Eastern Himalayas. Tropidonotus Firthi, spec. nov. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 23: 166 * Wall,F. 1923 A Hand-list of the Snakes of the Indian Empire. Part 2. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 29: 598-632 Category:Natricinae